What Ever Happened to Bailing Wire?

Some of you probably don't even know what bailing wire is. It's the wire that is wrapped around bales of hay -- the old fashioned hay bales, not the new round bales -- to hold them together. But it's fame came from being used to hold all kinds of other things, mostly mechanical, together. When something broke, you could just use a piece of bailing wire to hold it together to keep on going. Thus the saying, "Held together by bailing wire."

I was reminded of this because my nearly antique riding mower needed a piece of bailing wire recently. The mowing deck became unattached on one side due to age and rust, and I quickly saw that I could hold it together a little longer if I had a piece of bailing wire -- which I did not. But I did manage to get the job done with a coathanger, though not as well. I'll be ordering the replacement deck soon to fix the mower correctly, but the bailing wire-like patch is working just fine for now. (It's also amazing that parts are still readily available for a 20-something year old riding mower!)

Now that I think about it, it's interesting that I even know about bailing wire and its importance, because I never lived on a farm (except when I was less than three years old and we didn't have a hay bailer), and my experience with bailing hay was limited to a few days on a friend's farm when I was an early teen. I don't think I learned about bailing wire for repairs from that experience. But the adults who were influences in my life all grew up themselves on farms and around machinery. I suspect that's where it came from.

Anyway, it just seems like knowing how to use bailing wire is a passing thing with our increasingly urban living. And this morning that seems like a shame. Being able to make a quick fix and keep going is a valuable skill.